(1) Upon receipt of a complete automatic voter registration application, the county auditor must send the automatic voter registration applicant an acknowledgment notice package as defined in RCW 29A.08.030 within five business days. The voter registration transaction can include initial registration, name change, residential address change, mailing address change, or reactivation of an inactive voter registration. The notice package must be sent by nonforwardable, address correction requested mail, and include:

(a) A postage prepaid, preaddressed return automatic voter registration opt-out form as prescribed by the office of the secretary of state or in substantially the same format;

(b) An acknowledgment notice as defined in RCW 29A.08.030 and WAC 434-324-085; and

(c) Other information deemed necessary by the secretary.

(2) If the automatic voter registration application does not contain the minimum information required in RCW 29A.08.010, the county auditor shall mail a verification notice and automatic voter registration opt-out form simultaneously to the prospective registration applicant, following procedure as set forth in RCW 29A.08.110 and WAC 434-324-103.

(3) The county auditor shall mail an automatic voter registration acknowledgment notice package to a primary-only voter, as defined in WAC 434-232-010, no earlier than 90 days before the primary that they are eligible to participate in.

(4) The county auditor shall not mail an automatic voter registration acknowledgment notice package to a participant in the future voter program established under RCW 29A.08.170 until the participant becomes a registered voter.

(5) In addition to mailing the automatic voter registration acknowledgment package, the county auditor may provide notification to the registration applicant by:

(a) Telephone, leaving a voicemail if the automatic voter registration applicant does not answer and voicemail is available (if the automatic voter registration applicant has provided a phone number);

(b) Text message (if the automatic voter registration applicant has opted into text message notifications); or

(c) Email, enclosing a copy of the automatic voter registration acknowledgment notice package (if the automatic voter registration applicant has provided an email address).

(6) If the automatic voter registration information provided by the government agency where the voter applied to government services is for a currently registered voter and does not contain a change to the voter's name or address(es), the county auditor may choose whether to send the voter an automatic voter registration acknowledgment notice package.

(7) Prior to removal from the statewide voter registration database of a new voter registration record upon receipt of the automatic voter registration opt-out form, the county auditor must ensure that the signature on the automatic voter registration opt-out form matches the signature in the voter registration record by utilizing criteria outlined in WAC 434-261-052.

(a) If the signature on the automatic voter registration opt-out form matches the signature on the voter registration record, the registration is removed from the statewide voter registration database, and the prospective registration applicant is deemed to have never registered to vote.

(b) If the signature on the automatic voter registration opt-out form does not match the signature on the voter registration record, the county auditor must attempt to contact the prospective registration applicant consistent with subsection (5) of this section. To be deemed as never having registered to vote, the prospective registration applicant must either:

(i) Appear in person and sign an automatic voter registration opt-out form no later than close of business 15 days following the date the package was mailed by the county auditor; or

(ii) Sign an automatic voter registration opt-out form and return it to the county auditor no later than close of business 15 days following the date the package was mailed by the county auditor.

(8) Upon receipt of an automatic voter registration opt-out form from a currently registered voter, the county auditor must ensure that the signature on the form matches the signature in the voter registration record by utilizing criteria outlined in WAC 434-261-052.

(a) If the signature on the automatic voter registration opt-out form matches the signature on the voter registration record, the automatic voter registration application changes are nullified, and the voter registration record will revert to the data in the record prior to the application being processed.

(b) If the signature on the automatic voter registration opt-out form does not match the signature on the voter registration record, the county auditor must attempt to contact the voter consistent with subsection (5) of this section. To nullify the voter registration record changes, the voter must either:

(i) Appear in person and sign an automatic voter registration opt-out form no later than close of business 15 days following the date the package was mailed by the county auditor; or

(ii) Sign an automatic voter registration opt-out form and return it to the county auditor no later than close of business 15 days following the date the package was mailed by the county auditor.

(9) The date of registration is the date an election official receives the information to register the person to vote. If an automatic voter registration application is received in the eight days prior to election day, the date of registration is the day after the election, and the county auditor must mail the automatic voter registration acknowledgment package within five business days following election day.

(10) The county auditor must keep a record of the voter opt-out forms sent and received. The record must contain the date on which the notice package was mailed, the date on which the voter was contacted in other means if applicable, as well as the date on which the voter subsequently submitted an automatic voter registration opt-out form to cancel the pending automatic voter registration record.